Police Log

Posted
Thursday, May 17, 2012 1:00 pm

The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Warwick Police

RACOON PROBLEMOfficer Patrick McGaffigan reported he was dispatched to Oakland Beach around 10:30 a.m. for a possible rabid raccoon on May 11. McGaffigan said he arrived to find that the raccoon had moved on to Powhatan Street and was now taking refuge in a makeshift cat sanctuary at the rear of 68 Powhatan, a vacant property. A witness told him the animal appeared to be biting its front paws. He said they found the sanctuary, which consisted of a crude wooden shed with shingles. He said the shed was filled with hay. McGaffigan said they decided they could safely “euthanize” the raccoon in the shed and called Sgt. Robert Palumbo, the Animal Control liaison, and advised him that there was no .22 caliber rifle available, which was the usual weapon for that purpose and Palumbo advised him to take the animal down with his service weapon. McGaffigan said he took the raccoon out with five shots. They put the raccoon in a box to be retrieved by Animal Control for testing and then called Minimal Housing to have the property properly secured.

DUI OR REFUSALOfficer John Curley reported he was on patrol near Apponaug around 6:35 p.m. on May 7 when he got a call about a car operating erratically with a child riding unrestrained in the back seat. He said the car had already been stopped on the Post Road Extension when he found it and he started investigating the driver for DUI. He said the driver smelled of alcohol and appeared to be under its influence. He said he gave the driver a field sobriety test and the driver failed it. He said the driver also refused to give a sample for a portable breath test and refused a second test at headquarters. Joseph A. Baglini, 27, of 156 South Woody Hill Rd. in Westerly was charged with DUI, refusal, laned roadway violations, operating an unregistered vehicle and having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle. Det. Shaun Turcotte, who initiated the call, said the child was wearing a seat belt when he approached the car but was not wearing one earlier and there was no car seat appropriate for a 3-and-a-half-year-old in the car. Turcotte said he transported the boy to headquarters and contacted the live-in girlfriend of Baglini to come and get the boy and then contacted DCYF about turning the child over to her. DCYF said she would not be an issue but said that Baglini was the subject of several ongoing investigations. Baglini was later released to a sober adult.Officer Nicholas Reay reported he was investigating a hit-and-run accident at the 7-Eleven store at Oakland Beach Avenue and West Shore Road when he heard a commotion on Judith and saw five males fighting in the road. He said he called for backup and then ran over to the fight, which dissipated and stopped when they saw him and ran toward a silver Buick, which turned out to be the car involved in the hit and run. He said the driver admitted he hit the other car but said he only left because his friends insisted. Reay said he appeared to be under the influence and failed a field sobriety test. Christopher Miller, 19, of 149 Hudson Pond Rd. in West Greenwich was taken to headquarters where he blew a .122 and a .129 blood alcohol content on the breath test. He was charged with DUI and several traffic violations, including hit-and-run.Officer Jedidiah Pineau reported he went to an accident at 1030 Greenwich Ave. around 8:55 p.m. on May 7 and found one car that had been hit in the rear while making a turn and another car that had been driven by a woman who appeared to be under the influence. He said the driver failed a field sobriety test and refused a portable breath test at the scene and a second breath test at headquarters. He said a check of the driver’s record revealed a prior conviction for DUI, so Lorna Ann Parrillo, 47, of 1143 Main Ave. in Warwick was charged with DUI, second offense and two counts of refusing a breath test. She was later released to a sober adult.Sgt. John Choquette reported he stopped a car for doing 63 miles per hour on West Shore Road around 2:10 a.m. on May 6. He said the driver appeared to be intoxicated and smelled of alcohol and the car smelled of marijuana. He said the driver failed a field sobriety test and was taken to headquarters where he refused a breath test. Choquette said he was also charged with possession of marijuana when the green, leafy substance they found in his car tested positive for the drug. Samuel R. Mathias, 37, of 15 Eagle Ave. in Warwick was charged with DUI and refusal, speeding, possession of a controlled substance and laned roadway violations.Officer Joshua Myer reported that he clocked a Jeep doing 61 miles pre hour on Warwick Avenue around 1:50 a.m. on May 6. Myer said the vehicle only slowed down after he caught up with it and it pulled into a parking lot of a restaurant. He said the driver had a strong odor of alcohol coming from him and appeared to be under the influence and was nervous and confused. He said the driver was off balance getting out of the Jeep and failed the field sobriety test. Myer said Brendan H. Friel, 28, of 119 Vineyard Rd. in Warwick was taken to headquarters where he refused to take a breath test. He was charged with DUI, refusal, second offense, and speeding. Myer noted that Friel was cooperative and polite at first but later became sarcastic and antagonistic. He was later released to his father.

SHOPLIFTINGOfficer Brian Murray reported he was dispatched to the Wal-Mart store on Bald Hill Road around 12:15 a.m. on May 15 for a shoplifting suspect in custody. Security at the store told him she saw the woman select several health and beauty items from displays and conceal them in her jacket and jeans before she paid for some items she selected but did not pay for the goods concealed in her clothes. The loss prevention officer told Murray the suspect was not a stranger to Wal-Mart and had been arrested for stealing from a Wal-Mart in Massachusetts last year. Murray said he saw the woman put something in her mouth and start chewing and he asked her what it was and she replied it was “Motrin.” Murray called Warwick Rescue to have her checked out but she insisted to them that it was Motrin and she didn’t need medical attention. Meghan O’Neill, 29, of 11 Chestnut Rd. in Westport, Mass., was charged with shoplifting and then transported to District Court for shoplifting $17.59 worth of merchandise.